While much of the attention at this year's canoe sprint national championships is on the battle between Lisa Carrington and Aimee Fisher, another Kiwi Olympic medallist has turned heads with his efforts - at age 43.
Ben Fouhy, who won silver in the K1 1000m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, turned back the clock at Lake Karapiro to earn a spot in Friday's A final in the same event against opponents up to 20 years younger than him.
Fouhy finished third fastest in his heat and semi-final on Friday morning, posting times of 3:58.70 and 3:59.02 respectively to earn his spot in the race.
"I had no idea I'd make the final," Fouhy told 1News.
"I'm absolutely thrilled. I never expected to race an A final at a national championships ever again."
Despite posting his best time of the day - 3:57.51 - in the final, Fouhy finished eighth out of nine competitors, 18 seconds behind winner Ben McCallum.
Fouhy said his 43-year-old body simply didn't have anything left in the tank.
"It took all I had there out of me but that's racing," he said.
"But it's just good to be here... my final was just making the final. It was just awesome to be part of it."
Fouhy added he could see himself returning next year for another crack it at it too, although with more preparation.
"I've been doing coaching and that but I haven't done any sprint work and that's when you notice you can't go to that next level."
Away from Fouhy's action, Carrington and Fisher both cruised to Saturday's final with wins in their K1 500m heats on Friday morning with world champion Fisher posting a time four seconds faster than the Olympic champion.
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